Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Facebook owner Meta 390 million euros for violation of EU’s personal data rules.
The DPC fined the tech giant after the EU Data Protection Board (EDPB) rejected Meta’s legal justification for targeting users with ads, according to The Guardian reporting on Wednesday.
Meta argues that users agree to the use of their personal data to target them with personalized ads when they sign terms and conditions, while EU authorities say that the practice violates the bloc’s rules.
Meta’s business model is based on gathering user data to enable advertisers to target them based on location, interests, and consumer behavior, among others.
The DPC previously agreed with Meta’s legal justification for the practice but noted on Wednesday that it has to comply with EDPB orders. It gave Meta 90 days to bring its data processing in line with EU rules.
The Irish data watchdog also criticized the EDPB for demanding it investigate Instagram and Facebook’s data processing operations and announced plans to launch a legal process over the demand, which it described as overreach.
Meta reassures advertisers
Meta announced plans to appeal against the decision and stressed that it does not prevent targeting users with personalized ads without their consent.
“These decisions do not prevent targeted or personalized advertising on our platform,” the company noted and added, “the decisions relate only to which legal basis Meta uses when offering certain advertising.”
“Advertisers can continue to use our platforms to reach potential customers, grow their businesses, and create new markets,” Meta concluded.
The DPC levied roughly 1.3 billion euro worth of fines against Meta thus far, with 11 inquiries into the company still underway.
Noyb privacy rights NGO pointed out that advertising accounted for 98% of Meta’s 2021 revenues, with co-founder Max Schrems expressing belief that the latest decision presents “a huge blow to Meta’s profits in the EU.”
“People now need to be asked if they want their data to be used for ads or not,” he stated and concluded “they must have a ‘yes or no’ option and can change their mind at any time.
